When do you think people will finally start to understand atheism?

Alright, so a couple of days ago I was talking to a friend of mine in class. And we began to talk about religion. Now I'm far from the kind of person that likes to showcase my views on things, But I told him I was an Atheist. He Actually didn't believe me at first, and said that people have to take a oath to become an atheist. We literally argued about this for 5 whole minutes before I finally said lets go to an computer and get google the definition. after I showed him what atheism actually is, He still retained doubt. I just said forget it, and ended the conversation on it there.

What I'm asking is how long will people remain that ignorant on atheism. It's not like he's dumb when it comes to other topics. He says He's a christian and he never even read the bible. And when I told him and another friend I read it They Laughed. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention one of the guys laughing has a tattoo that says "blessed" on his chest. And he never read the bible. That's just stupid to me, But I kinda want to know what other people think about this.

Replies to This Discussion

Look! It's Hypocrisy and Ignorance, those dastardly fiends! As I'm sure it's been mentioned before, Christianity is default for most Americans. They're born and raised into a Christian Faith, but really only know the basics: Worship God and Jesus, don't do bad things, and come to church every Sunday. A staggering number of people do not learn what it means to seriously accept a religion or ideology, mostly because these things are forced on them at an early age. They think they're doing it right, but they don't know for certain. Most religious people I've met never got serious about their faiths until they were adults, and even then they'd never read the Bible cover to cover, or try to implement the teachings of Christ into their daily lives; at least, none that were inconvenient.

I think that we are nearing the point where atheism will become... if not socially acceptable, then at least socially acknowledged. I think that a lot of people are ignorant about atheism... I don't mean ignorant in an insulting way, but in the true spirit of the word - that a lot of people truly don't understand what it means. You really hit the nail on the head when you said "It's not like he's dumb when it comes to other topics." I think that people who are generally well-informed, well-meaning people simply have never thought about atheism as a realistic or viable way of life. So good job for staying calm, explaining it to him, and using facts! He might have laughed now, but a day could very well come where he will think back on that conversation and realize that you were right. You may started the slow process of becoming an atheist. Kudos!

A response to the article below named 'The Sterile Life of an Everyday Atheist' has kept me busy most of the day. I emailed the editor of the magazine as it just seemed so unreasonable that this could be published without rebuttal - even if just one voice.http://thericatholic.com/opinion/detail.html?sub_id=4763
see what you think. Is this really how people see atheists?

I eventually wrote a very detailed response to each point the Bish brought up but strangely haven't had a response!?!
I'd love to post it somewhere to get more opinions and then maybe continually lambast them with positive, happy atheistic responses which may either annoy them (win) or make them think a bit harder (win).
However, I will share a little bit of it as it also addresses another bug bear of mine and just fitted perfectly into one of the points the Bish made -
People who constantly moan about their awful existences and feel it neccesary to put #fml and such after every mundane occurrence they encounter such as having a cold, train being late, odd socks (you get the idea).
Bishop: "If you don’t believe in God, what is there to celebrate in life, beyond those things that are merely superficial and passing?"
Me: SO SO MUCH - HERES SOMETHING I WROTE BEFORE ABOUT THIS WITH REGARD TO PEOPLE MOANING ON FACEBOOK ABOUT WHAT A BAD DAY THEY WERE HAVING AND WHAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR
"The sound of my child breathing in and out
Locking the door to MY home
At no point today did I:
1. Fear for my life
2. Want for food or water
3. Get abused
4. Feel true pain
5. Watch my child die from lack of clean water
6. Become exploited

Today, I had freedom of speech, freedom of movement, expression and choice.
I was hugged and kissed and talked to and loved
I can pick up the phone and call someone I love, turn on the computer and find out information about anything I fancy.
My fridge has food in it and my cupboards aren't empty.
My children are happy and safe in school.
I can look up at the beautiful blue sky, feel the warmth of the sun through the window and hide in my furry coat from the icy fresh breeze.
All in all, how can I complain when I have so much to be grateful for.
I am blessed. I am lucky. I'm alive.
THATS A LIST I AM PROUD OF AND DOESNT AT ANY POINT NEED THE WORD 'GOD' INSERTED.
Anyway, thanks for the response.
Peace :)

Atheism will never become mainstream because it does not have the comfort and succour that religions have. Atheism has no social gatherings. It involves no hyperbole that catches the imaginations of religionists.

With the rise of intellectual middle classes, atheism is flourishing (perhaps peaking) now, but compared to the ignorance and the need for something supernatural it is nothing.

My thoughts on Atheism are very simplistic. It's a religion. It's a faith. And it's an organization that says we are here by chance with no specific purpose. Now if I'm incorrect on that.. then please feel free to correct me. This "New Atheism" Movement is a way for Atheists to continue blindly walking and blindly leading. Remove the Bible, remove God, let's talk Science.

Science has already disproved Darwinism. If you disagree with that then I suggest you emerse yourselves in current biology and the structure that is.. the cell. It's a more complex organism than anyone ever thought and by Darwin's own account, his theory would be wrong if it were discovered that the cell was more complex than originally thought.

So that's evolution. Scientifically disproved, on so many more levels than just the cell, yet not accepted by mainstream scientists. Instead they claim that all evidence leads to intelligent design, but it just isnt so. They give no factual basis for this statement. It's like saying Shakespeare was not written by the man himself. Instead, over time, millions of monkeys were given pens and paper... eventually one of them came out with Shakespeare.

I'm really not here to rant about whats the right belief. Science leads to an intelligent creator. After reading countless articles from both sides I see the ridiculousness that is Atheism. And I also see the ridiculousness that is religion in itself. I don't call myself a Christian because the church has stained that word. I'm a Christ believer and follower.. and it's because of the concrete facts that the ones who set out to disprove it discovered that lead me there. Anyone who takes the word of another man without sincerely researching it is just as unintelligent as they claim their counterpart to be. I simply challenge Atheists to read the whole book, "The Origin of Species," and then read about modern discoveries in biology and science. It's just the first step in the journey to truth.

First of all Atheism is not a religion nor a faith, it is a lack of faith see Oxford Dictionary

“Pronunciation:/ˈeɪθɪɪz(ə)m/

noun

[mass noun]

disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.

Origin:

late 16th century: from French athéisme, from Greek atheos, from a- 'without' + theos 'god'

Atheism has no organisation, merely free thinking people who wish to question the doctrines that they have been taught and in same cases brainwashed with since they day they learned to talk! The “New Atheist” Movement is empowering otherwise powerless people to have a voice which they would not otherwise have, nobody is forced to follow them and they are not forcing or coercing anyone to follow them or believe in their beliefs.

Science has not disproved Darwinism, science has merely moved on from Darwinism, evolution is even more apparent with modern science than it was in Darwin’s day, remember Darwin lived in the 19th Century and his discoveries at that time were truly amazing given the lack of scientific knowledge at the time, modern scientists are merely building on what Darwin discovered and if anything evolution has been reinforced, Darwin’s place in history is assured!

Quite obviously science does not lead to an intelligent creator, what a ridiculous notion, the very simple question I would put to you in that case would be “Where did the creator come from?”

I think as science continues to become more accepted (what a foolish thing to have to write,but it seems to be reality here in the States) more and more people will question their faith and learn more about atheism.